Pumpkin, Puppies, and a PSA

September 30, 2007

I woke up to a beautiful, sunny Fall day here in Alabama this morning. There was a slight chill and breeze in the air. The perfect day for taking a walk, making a pot of coffee, and of course baking. I have been wanting to make my first pumpkin baked good of the season and figured today was as good a day as any to do that. There’s a recipe for pumpkin scones that I’ve seen floating around several blogs lately that I thought looked really great. I had never made scones, so decided I’d give that a shot. Of course I had my two best helpers in the kitchen with me this morning; my dogs, Tag and Riley. And while they don’t really help, they love to be wherever I am and are great company. They love to watch while I’m cooking or baking in hopes that they’ll get a little taste. : )

I have to say, this recipe was really easy. So don’t be afraid to try this if you’ve never made scones before. They turned out so tasty, too!

Preheat the oven to 400° and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped white chocolate. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut the circle into six equal triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 6 scones.

I thought I’d add this in here too as a PSA. Last night my best friend and I were out and about and stopped at Target. I found these on sale 2 for $1 in the dollar bins and bought six. At my store they had cream and a rust color. If you’re in need of some ramekins, check out your local Target.